9th April 2020
At the LA-EVA studio we have wanted to support, with the means accessible to us, the brave human battle that is going on out there. Having allocated as much stock as we possibly can to create a potpourri of gifts, last week we posted on Instagram a call for help in identifying care teams that could benefit from a donation project which we are calling #1000unitsofwellbeing. Within 48 hours homes had been found for the whole bundle. Our offerings are small, tangible thank you’s; self-care gifts to many men and women whose COVID-19 rule book is different to that which applies to most of us - doctors, nurses and carers on the front line of patient care in the NHS.
Our Units of Wellbeing are slowly being boxed up and dispatched far and wide across the UK. Over the next couple of weeks they will, amidst others, have reached the Royal Free Hospital and St George's University Hospitals in London; the John Radcliffe, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Hornton Hospitals in Oxfordshire; five hospitals in Lothian (Royal Infirmary, Western General, Kirkcaldy, Borders General and St John's); Warwick Hospital and South Warwickshire Hospice.
Yesterday we received on FB this message from Mr Gwilym, Consultant Surgeon and Clinical Lead at the Oxford Trauma Unit, who was the first to deliver gifts to his teams: “ I have just delivered over 100 'units of wellbeing' to the staff at the John Radcliffe and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre who continue to provide amazing care in these challenging times. This thoughtful, timely and beautiful set of gifts from the La-Eva team to the NHS staff is particularly impactful right now. As well as units of well-being, they have also become symbols of unity, as many of the teams have been separated, to care for patients who need them most. I'm aware that a thank-you doesn't need a thank-you, but you are getting one anyway.”
The NHS motto right now is #1bigteam. We are being cared for and we care. Compassion and kindness are foundations for sharing aliveness and building a more humane, beautiful world.
